The North Island we relied on public transport and my family friends were brilliant and drove us around. For the South island we hired a car with three guys we met in a hostel in Picton which was brilliant. Follow the link below to see my blog posts from New Zealand:

Hiring a car is dirt cheap in the south Island we hired one for $26 a day which was split between four of us. For two and a half weeks it cost $160 NZD (£70) each including petrol.

Most people do the same travel routes around New Zealand so chat to people and if your doing the same route and get on with them hire a car together. You will get to see a lot more than sticking to coaches plus it will save you a fortune as you could pay upwards of $1000 for a trip with a tour company.

They drive on the left, so the correct side of the road.

Very similar to driving in the UK.

Definetly go for an automatic as it’s much easier especially as some of the roads are challenging in parts.

The roads are absolutely incredible to drive on in the south Island and is an experience in itself.

Roads are easy to navigate as there aren’t many ways to get to certain places use an app called maps.me which just uses location to navigate and no data.

Money:

They don’t have 1¢ or 5¢ coins.

ATM’s in the side of banks don’t charge you a penny to access your money.

Pick up leaflets at airports and information centres they often have vouchers in for activities and can save you a lot of money. I saved over $100 NZD by using vouchers.

Food:

Food is reasonably priced and they have own brand which can save a lot of money.

Beer is pretty expensive

Try whitakers bars of chocolate they are brilliant and perfect for taking on a hike.

Hostels:

Hostels are reasonably priced, you shouldn’t be paying over $35 NZD a night for a bunk in a dorm.

You can buy a YHA card which is $25 NZD which will save you ten percent across all YHA hostels in the world for a year. Also if you sign up in new Zealand you got a $5 off voucher for any Australia YHA.

Look for hostels that offer free breakfast or dinner, Tombstone hostel in Picton offers free home made scones for breakfast.